


Falling Is Like This

by mammothluv



Category: Castle
Genre: F/F, Female-Centric, Femslash, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-18 08:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5918419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mammothluv/pseuds/mammothluv
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’re not a true PI until you’ve ticked off all the cliche undercover ops. Admit it, you’d have been disappointed if there weren’t maid uniforms involved.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling Is Like This

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SukiAlanna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SukiAlanna/gifts).



> Thank you SukiAlanna for the fabulous prompt. I hope you enjoy this! 
> 
> Castle belongs to ABC and the the show's creators. I'm not making any profit and no copyright infringement is intended.

**9 p.m.**  
  
There’s a way her heart stutters and then speeds up when she sees Hayley’s name on her caller ID. Alexis doesn’t question it anymore, just picks up and pushes her laptop out of the way so she can flop backwards onto her bed.  
  
“Hey,” she says.  
  
“Hey yourself.” Hayley’s voice is backed by the sound of traffic and passers by. The background noise sounds definitively New York and Alexis’ chest bubbles with hope.  
  
“What are you up to?” Hayley asks.  
  
“Studying. Contemplating giving up and marathoning The Bachelor episodes I have on my DVR instead. You?”  
  
“Planning to do a bit of breaking and entering. You by any chance desire a more adventurous study break and possibly some company for that Bachelor marathon afterwards?”  
  
“Absolutely,” Alexis responds, biting her lip to cut off the squeal of excitement that wants to follow her answer.  
  
“Pick you up in a half hour.”

  
  
**9:51 p.m.**  
  
“No,” Alexis exclaims. It’s more an expression of disbelief than protest.  
  
Hayley glances over at her, offering a quick wink before turning her eyes back to the road.  
  
“You’re not a true PI until you’ve ticked off all the cliche undercover ops. Admit it, you’d have been disappointed if there weren’t maid uniforms involved.”  
  
“Yeah. You’re right. It is kind of great,” Alexis says, fingers trailing over rough material.  
  
For all their differences, she’s just as susceptible to the pull of unraveling a mystery or pulling off an undercover operation as her father is. Glancing over at Hayley, she has to admit she gets how the badass girl with a gun is pretty appealing too.  
  
“If I’d known we’d be dressing up, I’d have brought my blonde wig,” she says, desperate for anything to distract her from the thought that she might have the same taste in women as her father.    
  
“I’m partial to the red,” Hayley responds, reaching one hand over and twirling a strand of Alexis’ hair around her finger. It’s a split second and then Hayley has both hands back on the steering wheel and Alexis trains her eyes out the passenger window and hopes Hayley doesn’t notice the blush creeping up from her chest to her neck.  
  
A quiet but definitely self-satisfied chuckle from the driver’s seat tells her that particular hope is probably in vain.

 

  
**10:37 p.m.**  
  
Actual maid uniforms are scratchy and not that flattering. Alexis smooths hers for what must be the tenth time and hopes Hayley finds whatever she’s looking for quickly so they can get to the part where they’re in comfortable clothes watching TV and eating pizza.    
  
A couple comes out of a room a few doors down and Alexis pushes her cart a little further down the hallway in order to look busy.  
  
Then the elevator dings and Alexis’ heart rate speeds up as she recognizes the man from the photo Hayley had shown her earlier. She reaches into her pocket and hits the send button on her phone, sending a pre-typed message as a warning to Hayley that their man is on his way to his room.  
  
The timing is off, though. Hayley’s already stepping out of the door when her phone beeps and the man speeds up when he spots her coming out of his room.  
  
Alexis steps in front of him, feigning an accidental collision that she hopes will give Hayley a head start.  
  
“So sorry,” she mutters. And then she hears a thump behind her and turns to see Hayley pinning another man against the wall. He must have come from the other direction while they were distracted. The man she’d just bumped into is rushing in Hayley’s direction. Seeing no other choice than to break her cover, Alexis follows and grabs him by the shoulders, slamming her full bodyweight against him as she does. He’s much larger than her but he isn’t expecting it and the impact is enough to send him slamming into the wall.  
  
Her victory is short lived however when he recovers and turns to land a solid punch that sends her head first into the opposite wall.  
  
The world is fading in and out of focus when Hayley swims into Alexis’ vision, her fist connecting with the man’s face once and and then a second time until he’s lying prone on the floor and Hayley is reaching down to cuff his hands behind his back.  
  
The hallway is spinning -- only a little bit, but to be safe Alexis leans back against the wall and lets herself slide down to a sitting position on the floor.  
  
And maybe she does have a concussion because “You’re hot when you punch people.” is normally a thing she would think but not say out loud. She’s ninety nine percent sure she just said it out loud.  
  
Hayley’s responding smile is soft, a contrast to the sharp kick she delivers to the man on the floor as she walks toward Alexis.  
  
“Can you get up? Hey, Alexis, talk to me.”  
  
The panic evident in Hayley’s voice cuts through the whirling of the world around Alexis.  
  
“I’ll get up in a minute,” she promises. Her eyes are pinched shut against the pounding in her head so she feels but doesn’t see Hayley sliding to the floor next to her.  
  
“Okay,” Hayley answers gently. “We’ll give you a minute.” And then she’s pulling out her phone and Alexis is listening to her report their position to someone and she’s hoping to God her dad and Kate don’t find out about this.  
  
Then Hayley’s arm slides around her back and Alexis leans into her shoulder, the solid feel of Hayley an anchor in the otherwise unsteady world around her.

 

 **11:21 p.m.**  
  
“It’s really fine,” Alexis insists for the fifth time. Hayley is holding ice against the bump on Alexis’ forehead and completely ignoring all reassurances.  
  
“Hush,” Hayley orders, as she pushes a strand of hair behind Alexis’ ear and repositions the ice she’s holding to Alexis’ forehead.  
  
They’re fresh from the emergency room and now sitting on the bed in Hayley’s hotel room. The doctor gave Alexis a clean bill of health aside from the cuts and bruises and suggesting someone wake her every few hours to check on her. Alexis’ symptoms have lessened to a dull headache and a few other minor pains. Still, Hayley hasn’t stopped fussing over her for a moment.  
  
The ice is almost too cold against her forehead. But Alexis likes Hayley this close, her fingers occasionally brushing against Alexis’ temple as she adjust the ice pack, so she doesn’t mention it.  
  
There’s a frown on Hayley’s face as she leans in closer. The fingers of her other hand trail along a cut on Alexis’ cheek and her frown deepens.  
  
“Thanks for having my back, tonight,” she says, voice low in deference to Alexis’ headache.  
  
“I mostly just got concussed,” Alexis apologizes.  
  
“Got concussed in the process of stopping a guy from getting the jump on me. Seriously, I was a little distracted fighting off his buddy but I saw enough to know you got in quite the flying tackle.”  
  
Hayley’s eyes are soft now in their regard of Alexis, her frown almost gone.  
  
“Yeah, I did,” Alexis agrees proudly. “Still I should probably work on my follow-up. I don’t quite have your mad knockout skills.”  
  
“I wouldn’t have dragged you into this tonight if I’d known it would get physical.”  
  
Alexis’ heart sinks a little at the regret in Hayley’s tone. She’s used to her dad trying to keep her out of the more dangerous investigations but Hayley’s always treated her as a peer.  
  
“What you say we give you a few days to heal up and I’ll give you some hand to hand combat lessons? Then you’ll be prepared next time,” Hayley offers.  
  
“That would be awesome,” Alexis responds, worries evaporating in response to the genuine ease with which Hayley made the offer.  
  
“It’s a date,” Hayley confirms.  
  
There’s space between them, not much, just an inch or so -- and then there isn’t. Hayley isn’t moving away so Alexis surges forward.  
  
She means to press her lips to Hayley’s briefly, an inquiry more than anything, but maybe her brain is foggy enough that it can’t quite instruct her body to cooperate. Or maybe the rush of Hayley’s exhale against her lips is the opening of the floodgates on this thing that’s been threatening to break between them for weeks now.  
  
In the space of moments Alexis’ hands are on Hayley’s shoulders and her teeth are grazing Hayley’s lower lip. Hayley’s hands land on her hips and urge her closer.  
  
When they break the kiss, Hayley rests her forehead against Alexis’.  
  
“You should stay,” Hayley says.  
  
Alexis nods, fingers unconsciously traveling up trail her lips.  
  
“You’re staying so I can check on you but no more of that...” Hayley gestures between the two of them. “.. until the morning when we’re sure your brain is working properly.”  
  
“I’m pretty sure my brain is never going to work properly when we do that.”  
  
Hayley’s gorgeous when she smiles but even more so when she laughs like she does now, full and rich.  
  
She rifles through her bag and pulls out pajama pants and a shirt which she tosses at Alexis.  
  
“Only one bed,” Alexis observes, nodding at the bed in question. “Sure you’ll be able to keep your hands off of me?”  
  
“I’m not the one who couldn’t keep her lips to herself a few moments ago, now am I?” Hayley calls after her as the bathroom door swings shut between them.

 

 **11:57 p.m.**  
  
“Hayley,” Alexis whispers.  
  
“Yes?” Hayley’s response comes from too far away near the other edge of the bed.  
  
“You know your stupid no kissing until morning rule?” Alexis asks.  
  
“I do recall it, yes,” Hayley answers with a low laugh.    
  
“What about cuddling? Is cuddling acceptable?” Alexis scoots a little toward Hayley’s side of the bed to punctuate the question.  
  
“Get over here,” Hayley orders, arms reaching out to pull Alexis closer. Alexis settles her head on Hayley’s pillow and her arm over Hayley’s stomach. Hayley is warm and comfortable against her, her hand coming to rest atop Alexis’ own.  
  
“Much better,” Alexis mumbles sleepily as she closes her eyes.     
  
   
  



End file.
